1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming method utilizing a silver halide color photosensitive material, and more specifically to an image forming method capable, in a low replenishment processing of a silver halide color photosensitive material, of suppressing a deterioration of a stain (sheet edge stain) on an end cut face (edge face) after the processing and improving stacking property of processed sheets, and an image forming method with reduced failure in the transporting of the silver halide color photosensitive material.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent photoprocessing service industry, a color print system for obtaining a color print from a color negative film, a color reversal photosensitive material, a digital camera etc. has become popular not only in processing laboratories specialized in development and printing but also in ordinary photo shops. Exposure method in such color print system is principally divided into so-called analog exposure system in which an exposure is made by a light transmitted through a translucent photosensitive material such as a color negative film or a color reversal photosensitive material, and so-called digital exposure system in which digital information of an image stored in a memory device such as a semiconductor memory or information obtained by digitizing the image of the aforementioned translucent photosensitive material is printed as image information to form a color print for example with a semiconductor laser.
In such color print system, the photosensitive material is wound in a roll, then set in a magazine, mounted in the system and pulled out of the magazine for transporting. The photosensitive material, or so-called color photographic paper, has usually been transported by so-called roll transport in which the material is subjected to an exposure and a developing process in an uncut state and is finally cut into an individual print. However in order to clarify the boundary of each print, a shot information has to be formed and such portion is inevitably wasted. Therefore, there is commercialized a color print system employing a transporting method in which the photosensitive material is cut into a sheet of individual print, and then subjected to an exposure and a development process. Such transporting method employs a transporting system with paired transporting rollers and a transporting system with a conveyor belt to avoid an unevenness in a scanning exposure, after which the photosensitive material is supplied to developers. Such color print system, being utilized in processing laboratories and photo shops, is operated under various environments which are in fact different among these laboratories and photo shops and vary depending on the time in a day or the season. Particularly in winter, the color print system is often used in a dry environment, which often leads to troubles resulting from electrostatic charging of the color prints, such as a static mark, a transporting failure or a stacking failure. In particular, a stacking failure is encountered in a step of stacking and grouping the prints, obtained after the processing, into a unit of each color negative film or each digital information of a customer, and requires a manual resorting operation. Also in comparison with the aforementioned roll transport system, the sheet transport system used in the color print system tends to cause a transporting failure by electrostatic charging at the transfer of the photosensitive material from the paired transporting rollers to the conveyor belt.
On the other hand, certain color print systems employ a low replenishment processing of the photosensitive material, in order to alleviate the environmental burden and to reduce costs for recovery and treatment of the used solutions. In such low replenishment processing, components discharged from the silver halide photosensitive material to the developers are accumulated therein in larger amounts, and, for example an increased halogen accumulation leads to drawbacks such as a slower proceeding of image development, an aggravation of so-called edge stain, which is a brown stain caused by intrusion of the developers into an end cut face (edge face) of a laminated paper of polyethylene resin layers of a substrate (usually called color print material), and a deterioration of the solution stability. The edge stain becomes aggravated with time in a case that the photographic print is stored in a high temperature and/or high humidity condition. It is therefore desired, by the market of the color print laboratories, to provide a processing method capable of avoiding the edge stain, in the low replenishment processing for the aforementioned purposes.
The present invention is to solve the aforementioned drawbacks in the related technology, and to attain the followings. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming method capable of suppressing a transporting failure in a silver halide color photosensitive material, and an image forming method capable, in a low replenishment processing of the silver halide color photosensitive material, of suppressing aggravation of a stain (edge stain) of an end cut face (edge face) after the processing and improving stacking property.
As a result of intensive investigations on failures encountered in an image forming method executed utilizing transportation with a paired transport rollers and/or a belt conveyor, the present inventors have found it possible, by introducing colloidal silica in a rear surface side (back layer) of the photosensitive material and by maintaining a surface resistance of 1.0xc3x971014xcexa9 or less and/or a charge leak time of 200 seconds or less on the rear surface (surface of back layer) of the photosensitive material, to reduce a surface contact area with the paired transporting rollers and/or the belt conveyor, and to quickly eliminate the charge caused by peeling, thereby suppressing the transporting failure caused by charging. Also the paired transporting rollers are usually formed by hard rubber rollers or metal rollers having a high dimensional stability and the photosensitive material tends to be charged when it is brought into contact with such rollers and is peeled off therefrom, but it is found that inclusion of a specific fluorine type surfactant in the rear surface side of the photosensitive material reduces such charging tendency and the transporting failure, whereby the present invention has been made. Furthermore, as a result of intensive investigations, the present inventors have found that, in a development process with low replenishment amounts of a color developer and a desilvering bleach-fixing solution, use of a specific fluorine type surfactant in the silver halide color photosensitive material surprisingly suppresses aggravation of the edge stain of the photosensitive material and improves the stacking property of the photosensitive material after the processing, thereby reaching the present invention.
In the first aspect, the invention provides an image forming method (J) comprising the steps of:
cutting a silver halide color photosensitive material, which has, on a reflective substrate, photographic layers comprising at least one of each of a blue light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a yellow dye forming coupler, a green light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a magenta dye forming coupler, a red light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a cyan dye forming coupler, and a non-photosensitive hydrophilic colloid layer, into sheet form;
subjecting the sheet to imagewise exposure under transportation with at least one of paired transporting rollers and a belt conveyor; and applying development processing that includes color development, bleach-fixing, and rinsing, to the sheet
wherein said silver halide color photosensitive material comprises a back layer on a side of the reflective substrate opposite to the silver halide emulsion layers, said back layer contains colloidal silica, and a surface of said back layer has a surface resistance of 1.0xc3x971014xcexa9 or less.
In the second aspect, the invention provides an image forming method (K) comprising the steps of:
cutting a silver halide color photosensitive material, which has, on a reflective substrate, photographic layers comprising at least one of each of a blue light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a yellow dye forming coupler, a green light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a magenta dye forming coupler, a red light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a cyan dye forming coupler, and a non-photosensitive hydrophilic colloid layer, into sheet form;
subjecting the sheet to imagewise exposure under transportation with at least one of paired transporting rollers and a belt conveyor; and applying development processing that includes color development, bleach-fixing, and rinsing, to the sheet
wherein said silver halide color photosensitive material comprises a back layer on a side of the reflective substrate opposite to the silver halide emulsion layers, said back layer contains colloidal silica, and a surface of said back layer has a charge leak time of 200 seconds or less.
In the third aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (J), wherein said colloidal silica has an average particle diameter of 5 to 100 nm.
In the fourth aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (K), wherein said colloidal silica has an average particle diameter of 5 to 100 nm.
In the fifth aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (J), wherein said colloidal silica has a pH value of 2.5 to 12.
In the sixth aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (K), wherein said colloidal silica has a pH value of 2.5 to 12.
In the seventh aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (J), wherein a surface of said colloidal silica is coated with alumina.
In the eighth aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (K), wherein a surface of said colloidal silica is coated with alumina.
In the ninth aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (J), wherein said back layer includes at least one of a water-soluble polymer compound having a carboxyl group or a sulfonic group, a metal salt thereof and an aqueous dispersion of a hydrophilic organic polymer having at least one of a carboxyl group, a sulfonic group, a phosphoric acid group, an acyl group, and a hydroxyl group.
In the tenth aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (K), wherein said back layer includes at least one of a water-soluble polymer compound having a carboxyl group or a sulfonic group, a metal salt thereof and an aqueous dispersion of a hydrophilic organic polymer having at least one of a carboxyl group, a sulfonic group, a phosphoric acid group, an acyl group, and a hydroxyl group.
In the eleventh aspect, the invention provides an image forming method (L) comprising the steps of:
subjecting a silver halide color photosensitive material, which has, on a reflective substrate, photographic layers comprising at least one each of a blue light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a yellow dye forming coupler, a green light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a magenta dye forming coupler, a red light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a cyan dye forming coupler, and a non-photosensitive hydrophilic colloid layer, to an imagewise exposure; and
applying development processing that includes color development, bleach-fixing and rinsing, to the silver halide color photosensitive material, wherein
said silver halide color photosensitive material comprises at least one selected from fluorine type surfactants represented by the following general formulae (I), (II), (III) and (IV);
said color development is executed with a replenishing amount of a color development solution of 20 to 60 ml per 1 m2 of said silver halide color photosensitive material; and
said bleach-fixing step is executed with a replenishing amount of a bleach-fixing solution of 20 to 50 ml per 1 m2 of said silver halide color photosensitive material 
wherein
in general formula (I), RB3, RB4 and RB5 each independently represent a hydrogen atom or a substituent group; A and B each independently represent a fluorine atom or a hydrogen atom; nB3 and nB4 each independently represent an integer from 4 to 8; LB1 and LB2 each independently represent a substituted or unsubstituted alkylene group, a substituted or unsubstituted alkenyloxy group, or a divalent connecting group formed by a combination thereof; mB represents 0 or 1; and M represents a cation;
in general formula (II) RA1 and RA2 each independently represent a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group; at least one of RA1 and RA2 represents an alkyl group substituted with a fluorine atom; RA3, RA4 and RA5 each independently represent a hydrogen atom or a substituent group; LA1, LA2 and LA3 each independently represent a single bond or a divalent connecting group; X+ represents a cationic substituent; Yxe2x88x92 represents a counter anion which may be omitted in a case in which a charge in the molecule becomes 0; and mA represents 0 or 1;
in general formula (III), RC1 represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group; RCF represents a perfluoroalkylene group; A represents a hydrogen atom or a fluorine atom; LC1 represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkylene group, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyleneoxy group, or a divalent connecting group formed by a combination thereof; one of YC1 and YC2 represents a hydrogen atom and the other represents xe2x80x94LC2xe2x80x94SO3M; and M represents a cation; and
in general formula (IV), RfD represents a perfluoroalkyl group; LD represents an alkylene group; W represents a group having an anionic, cationic, betainic or nonionic polar group necessary for providing a surface-active property; nD represents 0 or 1; and mD represents an integer from 1 to 3.
In the twelfth aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (L), wherein said silver halide color photosensitive material comprises a fluorine type surfactant represented by general formula (I).
In the thirteenth aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (L), wherein the non-photosensitive hydrophilic colloid layer constituting an outermost layer of said silver halide color photosensitive material comprises at least one of the fluorine type surfactants represented by general formulae (I) to (IV).
In the fourteenth aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (L), wherein said silver halide color photosensitive material further comprises, as an outermost layer thereof, another non-photosensitive hydrophilic colloid layer which includes at least one selected from the fluorinated surfactants represented by general formulae (I) to (IV).
In the fifteenth aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (L), wherein the fluorinated surfactant represented by general formulae (I) to (IV) is added to said silver halide color photosensitive material in an amount of 1xc3x9710xe2x88x925 to 1 g/m2.
In the sixteenth aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (J), wherein said back layer includes at least one selected from fluorine type surfactants represented by the general formulae (I) to (IV), and said colloidal silica
In the seventeenth aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (K), wherein said back layer includes at least one selected from fluorine type surfactants represented by the general formulae (I) to (IV), and said colloidal silica
In the eighteenth aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (J), wherein said back layer includes a fluorine type surfactant represented by the general formula (I), and said colloidal silica
In the nineteenth aspect, the invention provides the image forming method (K), wherein said back layer includes a fluorine type surfactant represented by the general formula (I), and said colloidal silica